A Galei Tzahal (Army Radio) report that has been confirmed explains the real reason behind Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s decision to oust Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon from the party’s election list. It was first believed that Ayalon was ousted as a result of the embarrassing incident in which he seated Turkish Ambassador to Israel Ahmet Oguz Celikkol in a lower seat, but it has now been learned the incident that guided Lieberman’s hand was far more serious.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s dislike for Foreign Minister Lieberman led to a number of clandestine meetings with Ayalon, who is responsible for maintaining the day-to-day strategic relationship with the US, but Ayalon kept the minister in the dark, a move that was not viewed as acceptable, leading to the decision.

In fact, Clinton wished to place Israel’s foreign minister out of the picture and Ayalon played along at the expense of his boss. When Lieberman learned of the meetings, his response was harsh after having losing faith in his subordinate, not to mention the embarrassment to his office.

While Liberman and Clinton have met during the past administration, the strained relationship is no secret and the number of meetings between them was relatively low for an Israeli foreign minister with his US counterpart.

Ayalon confirmed the facts. The Foreign Ministry responded “The allegations are childish and baseless, but one does not come down on another during his difficult time.”

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)